International Dutch Oven Society Spring Gathering

One of the highlights of my culinary life is the annual International Dutch Oven Spring Gathering (formerly known as the IDOS Spring Convention).  This is an evening and day of food and friendship as dutch oven enthusiasts from all over gather to cook and share their love of the black pots.  There are demos and classes, and there are vendors and auctions.  There’s a camp over the night before with a dutch oven gathering where everyone just kicks back and cooks and shares.

But the part of the event that I love the most is the “Taste of Dutch”.  This is where the main area of the pavilion is divided into booths, and each chef or team takes one space.  They cook whatever they want, whatever they’ve brought.   The doors are opened up to the public, who can browse from booth to booth sampling the fare and interacting with the chefs.  Asking questions, swapping ideas, generally having a great time!

Here's what it was like the other years that I went:  2009, and 2008.  I also attended in 2010, but (shame on me) I didn’t write it up.  Brendon and Jacob were the partners in my booth last year.

It all started for me when Ranes asked me if I wanted to help him in his booth back in 08.  We had a great time.  I helped him with the Rhodes Rolls that had been donated, and I made biscuits and gravy and a lunch of Masaman curry.

In 2009, I brought a long a friend, Steven Owen, and Brendon made his now famous pizza.

So, I recently got this email from Ranes, about this year’s event:

All,

The Annual IDOS Spring Gathering and Open House (formerly known as the Spring Convention) is on April 8th and 9th at the Legacy Events Center (formerly the Davis County Fairgrounds) in Farmington, Utah.

Information and details about the event can be found on the IDOS forums here

... and on Facebook here

So, you can participate in many different ways.  If you’re a dutch oven enthusiast and chef like I am (I’m tagging you, Andy J, and Toni, as well as many others), and you live in, or can get to, northern UT in April, sign up to be a chef in the Taste of Dutch.  The more chefs we’ll have, the more variety, and the bigger the event will be!

If you’re someone who loves outdoor cooking and wants to learn more about using dutch ovens, now is your chance to show up and taste a lot of great free food and learn from wonderful people.

Mark your calendars, ‘cause it’ll be a great time!





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Dutch Oven Masaman Curry, Again!

It’s been a few years since I did this one.  In fact, the last time I cooked Masaman curry was at the IDOS Spring Convention back in April of ‘08.  THAT was a seriously long time ago.

I was overdue.  Last time I’d done it, the curry wasn’t as hot as I might have liked,  so this time, I went with powdered spices instead of a paste.  I also did it all with bottom heat, simmering the food in the coconut milk. Anyway, here it is!

Dutch Oven Masaman Curry

12” Dutch Oven, about 20 coals below

    * 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
    * 2 tablespoons Curry Seasoning. ( I bought it out of a box, not the little bottles of “curry powder”)
    * 3 medium onions
    * 4 cloves garlic, minced


    * 2 14 oz cans of Coconut Milk
    * ½ cup peanut butter


    * 6-7 medium potatoes
    * 1-2 lbs meat (This time I used about equal portions of cubed chicken an uncooked peeled shrimp)


    * up to 1-1 ½ cups water
    * ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
    * 4 bay leaves
    * 3 Tbsp sugar
    * 3 Tbsp tamarind pulp, or some splashes of tamarind juice/nectar
    * ½ cup unsalted, chopped peanuts
    * ⅛ - ¼ cup coconut (I chopped up some fresh)
    * 3 tsp salt
    * Liberal shaking of cinnamon



First, I got the dutch oven onto the coals (the entire dish was done with bottom heat), and put the oil in the bottom.  After it had heated, I added the curry spices.  I mixed that in the oil, and let it activate in the heat a little, then added the garlic and the onions to saute.  If you wanted, you could add some chopped green pepper and/or celery here.  Maybe some green onions.

Once all that was nicely sauteed and translucent, I added the coconut milk, and the peanut butter.  You could add the peanut butter by the spoonful, and then it would be in smaller chunks and dissolve a little better.

I chopped up the potatoes and cubed the chicken and added those to the heating coconut milk.  I also added in the shrimp. Once I put the meat in, I covered it with the dutch oven lid to help it trap the heat.  Still, I didn’t add any coals to the lid.

I let the liquid get warm again, and added in the remaining flavoring ingredients.  I let these simmer, covered, for about an hour or so, while I made the rice.  The water is in the list, primarily to help adjust the overall liquid level.  You could also dust in a little cornstarch or flour to thicken it up, if need be, right at the end of the cooking.  Also, taste it while it’s simmering to see if the spices are hot enough for your taste.  If not, add a little chili powder, or more curry dust, let it simmer, and then check it again.

Serve it over rice, and it’s delicious!





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Mark’s Dutch Oven Spice Bread

I saw a recipe for “spice bread” online several months ago, and I’ve wanted to do this ever since.  I lost the recipe, but I had this general idea for the spices. 

I have to say that this is quite possibly the tastiest bread I’ve ever made.  It almost tastes like a cake.  I was really nervous about the spice mix.  I tried to sample it beforehand, but it’s tough to tell how it’ll turn out with the bread and the honey. 

Mark's Spice Bread in the Dutch Oven

12” Dutch Oven
17 coals above, 8 below for 350 degrees (in normal weather, more in cold)

•     1 cup hot water
•     1 Tbsp yeast
•     3/4 cup honey

•     4-5 cups flour, with probably about cup to be added during kneading
•     A pinch of salt
•     1 cups milk
•     1 egg

•     2 Tblsp olive oil
•     2 tsp spice mix (made of ½ tsp each of Ground cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Paprika, Nutmeg, Dried ground ginger)

•     An egg to coat the top

As with all of my breads, before making the bread, you should read my Squidoo.com lens on dutch oven bread making to grok my processes (that’s GeekSpeek for “understanding how I do it”).

I started by activating the yeast in the water and honey.  I just let it sit for quite a while until it became frothy and bubbly.  I love the smell of yeast in the morning...

While that was frothing up, I played with the spice mix.  I didn’t really know what I was getting or anything, I just chose a bunch of spices that I knew or had read work well in sweet dishes, like apple pies or bananna breads or things like that.  I’d also read that oils can extract the flavors of spices, so after I’d mixed the spices up, I put a coupla teaspoons into the olive oil.  I tasted it, but I wasn’t sure if it would be enough spice to flavor a whole loaf of bread.

Then, once the yeast water was bubbly, I added the ingredients in the second set, and the oil/spice mix together, and stirred it all up.  From that point on, it was just a matter of kneading and raising and baking just like any other loaf of bread. 

I did know that I was on the right track, because I tasted a little pinch of the dough and it was goooooood. 

It was a little tricky to cook it out in the snow, but since I pre-heated the lid, it worked really well, and it baked in about 40 minutes.  I kind of overcompensated on the bottom heat, so the lower crust was a little thick.  The upper crust was nice, brown, and soft to the touch.  The crumb was tender and tasted a lot like a spice cake.  With a bit of butter, it was heaven.